


Learning By Living

by shitfanficmeup



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adopted Child, Alternate Universe, Bottom Dean, Castiel Has A Daughter, Castiel is a Father, Castiel is a Sweetheart, Castiel's Nickname is Cas, Dead John Winchester, EMT Castiel, Emotionally Hurt Dean Winchester, F/F, F/M, Fatherhood, First Meetings, Hurt/Comfort, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Openly Bisexual Dean Winchester, Openly Gay Castiel (Supernatural), Teacher Dean Winchester, Teacher Sam Winchester, Top Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-21 16:37:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14918990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shitfanficmeup/pseuds/shitfanficmeup
Summary: Cas is 23 years-old and a new EMT in Topeka, Kansas when he finds a two-month-old girl in a desperate situation. Flash-forward six years, Annie is a first grader in Lawrence, Kansas. Cas brings her to school the first day and meets her teacher, Dean Winchester. It doesn't take Dean and Cas long to develop a relationship (Insert road bumps here)...





	1. Meet

Cas could see the multi-colored leaves fall to the ground, the different shades of orange and yellow littering his small front lawn. Looking at his right wrist, his black watch read: 7:10. It was getting late so Cas called down the hallway, “Honey, do you have your shoes on?”

A chirpy reply of, “Nope!” answered Cas, making him roll his eyes. Annie was six-years-old and as cute as a button. Cas had adopted her almost six years ago when she was two months old. Now, she was the light of his life.

“Love, you need to get your shoes on." It was Annie’s first day in her new elementary school in Lawrence and not wanting to be late, she came bouncing into the kitchen where Cas was making her lunch.

Her blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail and her pink dress was freshly washed. In the kitchen, her blue eyes shone up at Cas, “But daddy, your shoes aren’t on either!” Her tiny finger pointed at Cas’s sock covered feet.

“You’re right! Come on, let’s go put our shoes on together.” After Cas put Annie’s lunch into her pink backpack they walked over to the small bench by the front door. As Annie pulled on her white tennis shoes, Cas zipped on his black work boots. 

Annie smiled up at her dad, “Ready, daddy!”

Cas stroked her hair back and gently kissed her forehead, “Good girl, let’s go.”

After making sure they both had their jackets on, they walked out to Cas’s black Ford Focus. He securely strapped Annie into her car seat before sliding into the front seat. The drive from their house to Lawrence Elementary was no more than fifteen minutes but Cas treasured those fifteen minutes. As an EMT his schedule was hectic and often inconvenient to have with a young child. So any time he could spend with her, he would gladly take.

When they did get to the school, Annie was a bouncing ball of pink and blonde, clinging to Cas’s strong hand. They walked into the front office where a kind-looking brunette woman smiled at Cas, who stuck his hand out to greet her, “Hi, I’m Cas Novak. This is Annie Novak, it’s her first day here.”

The woman shook his hand back, “Hi, I’m Lisa. Annie is going to be in Mr. Winchester’s first-grade class. It’s down the hall, on the left side. It’s room twenty-five. One more thing, we also have a Gabriel Novak as the second pick up person?”

“Yes, he’s my brother. He’ll be picking her up most days.” Thankfully Gabe worked from home and because he lived with Cas and Ann, he was the world’s best and most convenient babysitter. 

After saying bye to Lisa, Cas and Annie walked down the hall until they reached Mr. Winchester’s room, which was filled with neat rows of twelve desks that were set up four by three with his desk facing them. 

Mr. Winchester was leaning against his wooden desk, chatting with the few students already in their seats. When he saw Cas and Annie standing in the door, he warmly smiled at them, trying to ignore how attractive Cas was, “Hey there! I knew I had a new student coming!” He walked over and gently shook her small hand, “You must be Annie.”

She beamed up at his green eyes, “Yes sir! Daddy said saying sir is very important for good manners and respect!”

Mr. Winchester’s eyes widened with surprise, “Did he?” Standing up a little straighter he turned towards Cas and shook his hand firmer than he did Annie’s, “You must be daddy.”

Cas couldn’t help but chuckle at the teacher’s obvious flirtatious joke, “Depends on who’s calling me that. Cas Novak.”

“Dean Winchester.” Dean turned back towards Annie and gestured towards the desks, “Annie, why don’t you go have a seat?” Once she wasn’t next to them, Dean started to ask Cas questions about her performance in school. 

“She’s a very good student usually. Although, she can get a bit talkative at times. I don’t think her starting a month late should be a problem though.” They talked for a few more minutes about Annie’s strengths and weaknesses before the conversation started to stray.

Dean eyed Cas’s navy blue uniform and work belt, taking in the gorgeous sight of an attractive man in a uniform, “So, you’re an EMT?”

Nodding Cas started to explain what baffled most people, his odd hours, “Yes, unfortunately, that comes with strange hours. Usually twelve hours on, twelve hours off; sometimes a night shift. Today I’m working eight am to eight pm. Four days on, four days off.”

“Wow, those hours with an active six-year-old? Your wife must have her work cut out for her.” He said the last part with the desire that he was wrong.

Thankfully, he was. “No wife, I’m single. I actually adopted Annie.”

He didn’t mean to but Dean’s face expressed that he disapproved, “Oh, that’s nice.”

“I know the face, okay? I’m a good father. When I’m not there my brother cares for her. She’s never alone. She’s loved.” Cas didn’t hesitate to defend his family. 

Dean did defend himself, passively holding his hands up, “Whoa, hey. No judgment from me, okay?”

Cas sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, scratching at his black hair, “Sorry… I just get protective.”

As kids kept coming in, Annie bounced back over to Cas, hanging onto his leg and hugging it, “Bye-bye, daddy! Be safe!”

Cas put his hand on Annie’s head and sweetly smiled at her, “Bye my love, Gabe will pick you up later.” Looking back at Dean’s shining green eyes and pretty face, Cas awkwardly smiled, “Have a nice day, Dean.”

After Dean replied, “You too.” Cas left and no matter how hard Dean tried, he couldn’t not stare at Cas’s ass; his uniform was snug and his pants were doing holy things to Cas’s legs.

The drive to the Topeka EMS dispatch center was thirty minutes but not a hard drive. At the center, Cas walked up to his assigned ambulance, 3220, where his old partner, Alfie, was sitting in the passenger seat, “Alfie! Hey, man.”

Cas jumped into the driver’s seat and gave Alfie a side hug, “I missed you! Glad we are back together.”

Alfie, who was light brown hair and was slightly smaller than Cas, hugged him back, “I missed you too. Best partner I’ve ever had. Let’s roll.”

Cas started up the ambulance, excited to be back in the city he started off in. They started their patrol, waiting for a call to come in, “So, Alfie, what have you been up to?”

“This. I got paired up with fuckin’ Rick. He was such an idiot! Literally, couldn’t put a CPAP machine on a guy and get this, he yelled at a crying child.” Alfie rolled his eyes in exasperation, remembering how difficult it was to have an inept partner. Shaking his head, Alfie changed the subject, “What have you been doing for five years?”

“I moved to Kansas City to be with my parents for a while. They helped a lot with Annie. I have to admit, I kind of jumped into the whole fatherhood with absolutely no knowledge.” Thankfully, Naomi and Chuck were supportive and loving towards Cas and his new little girl.

“I still remember the day we found her.” Alfie shuttered at the memory of finding the sweet two-month-old in her horrible situation. Cas was only twenty- three when he became a single father.

Cas agreed with him, “Best and worst day of my life.”

Their radio interrupted their conversation, “3220, two car MVC. Possible entrapment.”

Cas leaned into his black radio that was on his chest, “3220, 10-4.” Cas turned on the lights and sirens before stepping on the gas and taking off towards the scene of the accident.

Back at Lawrence Elementary, Dean was helping the kids start their math lesson; adding and subtracting single digit numbers. Annie was being a model student; she was attentive, kind, respectful to her teacher and her fellow students and she was for the entire day. 

It seemed like the day flew by before the last bell dismissed the school. Dean walked outside with his kids, leading those who took the bus over to the bus line and waiting with those who got picked up. 

It didn’t take long for Gabe to pull up in his grey pick-up truck and walk over to where Annie was waiting. He swung her up in his arms and kissed her cheek, “Hey look, it’s my favorite niece!”

Annie poked his nose and giggled when he scrunched up his hazel eyes, “I’m your only niece!”

Gabe squeezed her small body close, “How about we go get ice cream and not tell daddy?” Gabe was always sneaking Annie treats and desert, no matter how much Cas begged him not to before she’s had dinner.

Annie threw her hands up in the air and cheered because who doesn’t want ice cream? Dean, who was watching a few feet away couldn’t help but admit that was freaking adorable. 

After eating their ice cream, Gabe and Annie went home. There, Gabe helped her with her few worksheets of homework, hung out for a little while, and cooked some pasta for dinner. It was a little past nine-thirty before Cas got home, far too late for little girls to still be awake if you ask him. However, Annie was still waiting for her dad to come home.

They’re both exhausted when Cas placed Annie in her bath, trying to fix the temperature of the water to hush her fussing of, “Daddy, it’s too cold!”

Once the water was warm enough, Cas started to use a cup and rinse water through her hair and start lathering the shampoo into her hair, “So you like Mr. Winchester?”

Even though she didn’t like it, Ann patiently waited for Cas to be done rinsing out the white bubbles. She smiled and wiggled around, “Yeah, he’s awesome!”

Starting on the conditioner, Cas kept asking questions, “Good. How about your classmates? Are they all nice to my little girl?”

She answered even with her eyes covered to block out the water, “Yeah!” 

Cas put down the cup and handed Annie a washcloth and a bar of soap, “Good because you know I’ll rough them up if they’re not.” He put up his hands in a fighting stance, fake fighting somebody.

Annie giggled and started to scrub her arms, “No you won’t, daddy! You’re silly!” She washed the rest of her body until Cas got up to grab a fluffy towel.

By the time Annie was dry, had her pajamas on, and her hair brushed (with minimal tears), she was half asleep. Cas picked her up and carried her out to the living room to grab her stuffed bunny she left on the couch. In the living room, Cas handed her the bunny and walked over to Gabe so they could say goodnight. 

Gabe kissed her head, “Night, sweet dreams.” Annie was too tired to pick her head up off Cas’s shoulder and say goodnight back. 

In her room, which was painted a sky blue color with white clouds on them. Her bed had a fluffy white comforter on it and one of Cas’s pillows that she had stolen. Cas tucked her into bed and kissed her head, “It’s bedtime for little girls.” He pulled up her blanket and sat on her bed, stroking her hair as Annie snuggled with her stuffed bunny and drifted off to sleep.

She always did an amazing job of helping Cas relax after a stressful day just by being herself. After another minute, Cas left Annie’s room, making sure to keep the door cracked just a little. He walked out to the living room, gladly accepting the cold beer Gabe handed to him, “So, how was your first day back?”

Cas took a long drink of his beer, “Long but you know how it goes. How’s the business doing?”

Gabe took a drink of his own beverage, “Mike is up my ass to get the ledgers in.” Gabe worked for a car salesman as their accountant, which thankfully means, he can work from home.

Cas nudged Gabe’s shoulder, “Ah… Mike. Didn’t miss that dickhead. Alright, don’t work yourself to death. I got to get some sleep.” 

“Night, little brother.” Gabe turned back to his laptop to work on his spreadsheets as Cas headed back to the bathroom to shower. He showered as quickly as he could, mostly washing the sweat from his body and black hair. It wasn’t long until Cas fell face first into bed, letting sleep claim him and his exhausted muscles.


	2. Save

It was one week until Dean saw Cas again. At the end of October, Annie was bundled up in her jacket and jeans waiting for Gabe to pick her up but surprisingly, it was Cas who pulled up in from of the school. It was a Tuesday and only Cas’s third day on so he should be at work.

Cas stepped out of his car in jeans and a sweatshirt, instead of his uniform. Quickly walking over to Annie, he fell onto his knees on the cold sidewalk and wrapped his arms around her.  
Annie, sensing something was wrong, hugged her dad back, “Daddy, are you okay?”

Pulling away, Cas put a gentle hand on Annie’s rosy cheek, admiring how sweet and innocent she was and wishing she could stay that way forever, "Yes. I just missed you. I’m going to spend the day with you, okay?” He couldn’t tell her the truth, he didn’t want to. Cas couldn’t look into her sweet blue eyes and tell her that he needed to go home because of the blood… just too much blood coming from such a small boy.

His daughter’s happy face snapped him out of his thoughts, “Could we go get lunch?” Annie leaned in and whispered to Cas like she was telling a huge secret, “The food here sucks.”

Chuckling at his daughter, Cas nodded, “Of course we can.”

Annie bounced off to the car to put her backpack in the back seat while Dean walked up to Cas and reassuringly smiled at him, “Hey, nice to see you. Everything okay?”

Now that Dean was closer to Cas he could easily see the dark bags under Cas’s otherwise bright blue eyes. Cas ran a stressed hand over his face, “Rough call.”

“Shit, man. What happened?” Dean was genuinely concerned because Cas seemed like whatever was weighing on him was clearly bothering him.

Cas waved him off, “Nothing you need to worry about. I just needed to see my baby girl.” He nodded his head toward the car where Annie was playing with the radio stations. 

Not pushing anymore, Dean dropped the conversation but not before trying to get Cas to smile, “I get it. If you need somebody to get a beer with, I’m around.” 

And smile Cas did, “Thank you, Dean. Have a nice day.” After saying goodbye to Dean, Cas went back to the car and double checked Annie’s car seat before driving off.

Annie picked a local sandwich shop that she always orders the same thing at; a turkey, apple, cheddar sandwich and chips. For a small girl, she definitely had a large appetite just like her father.

After eating, Annie asked Cas to take her to the park. Figuring the weather was going to turn too cold soon, he agreed. Even if it was too cold, there was no way he could say no to those big blue eyes. 

The park was about ten minutes from their house and five from the restaurant. The late October weather had stripped the trees of their leaves, leaving them covering the sidewalks and the woodchips of the playground at the park. 

Knowing exactly what she wanted to do, Annie immediately sat on the swing and started pushing off the ground with her feet. Cas sat next to her on the other swing and watched his little girl enjoy herself. After a minute, he nudged her foot, “Hey, honey? How’s school going?”

Annie shrugged and kicked at the leaves, “It’s okay I guess. Rebecca was being kind of mean to me.”

Cas immediately froze because goddamn it, nobody was mean to his daughter, “What? Honey, what do you mean?” 

“She said nobody wanted to be friends with a new kid.” Annie’s fallen face lit up as she looked towards one of the far-away pathways, “Daddy, look! It’s Mr. Winchester!” Annie jumped up from the swing and took off running across the park.

Cas stood up and jogged off, trying to catch up with the fading blonde ponytail. When he saw that she really was running up to Dean, who clearly seemed to be on a date with a pretty redhead woman, Cas wanted to facepalm. 

Dean’s back was turned to Annie but he turned around when she chirped up behind him, “Hi, Mr. Winchester!”

He turned around and smoothed down his maroon tie, “Oh, Miss Annie, it’s nice to see you!” He gestured towards the redhead who was sweetly smiling at Annie, “This is my best friend, Charlie.”

The six-year-old beamed up at Charlie and giddily waved hello. Charlie gushed over Annie, “Oh my god… you’re adorable.”

Cas, who was thoroughly out of breath, finally jogged up to the three of them, “Hey, Dean. Sorry about that.”

Not understanding why Cas would apologize, Dean just reassured him instead of asking why, “Hey, it’s no problem. You guys enjoying the last of the weather?”

Cas chuckled, admiring Dean’s teacher attire which suited him very well (two-day stubble very much included), “Yeah, that’s exactly what we’re doing. What about—” 

Cas was cut off by the high pitch screams of a woman coming from the gazebo near the woods, “OH MY GOD! SOMEBODY HELP!” The woman was holding her child behind her and staring down at the ground where a man was slumped over.

Dean barely got the words, “Holy shit. Dean, watch Annie.” Out before taking off full speed towards the brown gazebo. When he got there, he directed his attention towards the hysterical woman, “Ma’am please, take your child over there and call an ambulance.”

Once she was out of the way, training took over. First, assess the situation; no needles, no blood, no seizing, no weapons. Second, check the airway; no obstruction. Third, check breathing; not breathing. Fourth, check pulse; no pulse. Probable cause… cardiac arrest.

Compressions are number one so Cas started right away with deep, effective compressions trying to circulate enough blood to the man’s brain to avoid any damage. 

Back where Dean is standing, completely shell-shocked, Annie’s small voice piped up, “Daddy said a bad word.”

“Yes… yes, he did.” Dean put a gentle hand on the back of Annie’s head, leading her away from everything that was happening. Even when Charlie and Annie started to chat and play together at a picnic table, Dean couldn’t take his eyes off Cas who was still pumping hard against the stranger’s chest.

Thankfully, the ambulance sirens could be heard approaching because Cas’s arms were getting tired and his compressions started to become ineffective. Not before long, two EMTs, Cas used to work with, Hannah and Miriam came rushing up to him, pushing a stretcher. Hannah recognized Cas and sighed, “Novak, why is it always you?”

“Nice to see you too, Hannah. Give me a hand. He went into cardiac arrest about six minutes ago.” Cas helped them quickly hook the patient up to a heart monitor and lift him onto the stretcher. Hannah straddled him and continued compressions as Cas and Miriam pushed the stretcher towards the ambulance. 

Cas stayed in the back of the ambulance long enough to get the LUCAS machine hooked up to the patient and insert I.Vs to administer medication. After telling the wife and their child to meet the ambulance at the hospital, Cas jumped out of the ambulance, leaving Hannah in the back and Miriam driving away. 

Once the bright lights of the white ambulance were out of sight, Cas started to walk back over to where Dean was staring at him. His sore and aching arms only grew worse as his adrenaline started to go down. The ache spread from his arms to his neck to his shoulders and down, leaving a sharp twinge in his back. 

Once he was back with Dean, Cas tried to smile but miserably failed, “Thanks for watching her, sorry for interrupting your date.”

Dean wasn’t quite paying attention to what was going on when he pointed to the table to where Charlie and Annie were chatting, “Don’t worry about it. The girls are having fun over there.” Then what Cas said finally clicked, “Wait… what? No, Charlie and I are just friends. She’s gay and I’m bi. Definitely leaning more towards guys though… you know; strong, pretty guys like you. Not that you’re just pretty, I mean you just saved that guys life and… I’m rambling.”

Cas couldn’t help but chuckle, “I know what you’re saying, Dean. And trust me, I’m definitely not the prettiest one having this conversation.” That made Dean’s cheeks flare up in a slightly embarrassing, dark pink blush. With sparkling blue eyes, Cas flirtatiously smirked at Dean, “Thanks again, Dean. I’ll see you later.” 

In two seconds, Annie was jumping and attaching herself on to Cas. Dean smiled at the two of them, “Bye, Cas. I’ll see you around.” He waved to Annie as well, “Bye, Miss Annie.”

Cas muscled through the pain and lifted Annie onto his shoulders as she waved back to Dean, “Bye, Mr. Winchester!”

Charlie walked up behind Dean and slapped him on his shoulder, “Cute kid.” Dean smiled because she’s adorable but his smile faded with Charlie’s next comment, “…cute dad.”

Dean shot daggers at her, growling out his warning, “Charlie… Yes, he is. He’s also a single dad and an EMT whose life is already busy enough. He doesn’t need me making things worse.”

She shrugged and handed Dean his coffee back so they could finish their walk, “Who said going on a few dates is making things worse?”

Grumpily taking his coffee back, Dean added, “I’m also his daughter’s teacher.”

Again, Charlie shrugged and gave him an innocent smirk, “Road bumps.”

They finished their walk and Dean went home to relax. His small, white ranch-style house was welcoming and just enough for Dean. For somebody who has always had a house but never truly had a home, it was the closest thing he’s had. Needing to talk to the one person who’s been with him through everything, Dean called his little brother, praying he would answer.

Thankfully the next sound Dean heard was Sam’s voice, “Dean, thank god you called! I’m losing it out here! These kids are driving me absolutely insane! I mean they don’t listen and they think they know everything! Oh my god are they cocky! Seriously, I’d rather be around 6-year-olds all day.”

Sam was a brand new law professor at Stanford University and not being much older than some of his students, they definitely pushed all of his buttons… all of the time. Dean laughed as he started to pull out some food to make dinner, “From the sounds of it, I’m glad to be around the 6-year-olds. What about the positives?”

Sam hesitated but not by much, “I met a girl. Her name is Jessica. She’s blonde and gorgeous and the sweetest person in the world. She’s a nurse.”

Dean placed the chicken he had in the fridge into a pan and let it sizzle, “That’s funny I actually met a guy. His name is Cas and he’s an EMT.”

Sam wasn’t fazed by the gender of the person Dean was interested in. Sam and their mother had always been supportive of Dean’s sexuality, no matter how much their father wasn’t, “Well, we’ll be in good hands at least!”

And now for the confusing part, “Yeah, that’s the thing… he has a daughter and I’m her teacher.”

“Give it a chance, Dean. I know you and I have some trust issues to work through but not every guy is dad.” Yup, there it is. The one bad thing about having somebody as close to you as Sam is to Dean; they know everything going on in your head… whether you want them to or not.

They finished their conversation about their lives so far apart from one another and then hung up to get ready for school in the morning. The next day, Dean passed out a form for each of the kids, “Parent-teacher conferences are coming up so please show this form to your parents or guardians when you get home.”

And that, Annie did. When Cas got home from work that night she gladly handed Cas the information sheet. He smiled at the date because it was one of his days off so he could make it, “Thank you, honey.” Cas definitely looked forward to talking to Dean with no interruptions.


	3. Pull

That Friday, Cas’s second day off, was the day of the conferences. A bit later than he wanted, Cas knocked on Dean’s classroom door, sticking his head in, “Hey, teacher.”

Dean instantly brightened up, seeing Cas instead of somebody else, “Hey, come on in!” 

Once Cas was sitting across from Dean, he noticed that Dean had his sleeves rolled up and his green tie was loosened with his top button was unbuttoned. Dean didn’t waste time getting down to what they’re supposed to be talking about, “So, Annie is literally a model student. She hasn’t been my student for long but I have no concerns about her for the rest of the year. Do you?”

“She mentioned that a girl named Rebecca wasn’t being too kind to her.” Cas wasn’t trying to make trouble but nobody hurts his little girl.

Dean seemed just as bothered by that as Cas was, “That’s upsetting. I will definitely keep a close eye on them. Let me know if Annie says anything else or anything specific.”

After chatting for a few more minutes, it was Cas who decided to change the tone, “So, that drink… is it still on the table?”

Dean lit up because of course, he wanted to hang out with Cas more, “Yeah, definitely! You’re actually my last parent of the night if you wanted to grab one now.”

Cas waited with Dean as he finished cleaning up his classroom. After the room was locked up, Cas followed Dean's Impala to a close-by bar, the Roadhouse. It was a small joint with no real fancy flare but it was familiar and comfortable. 

They both sat down at a table for two where Dean ordered a whiskey on the rocks and Cas ordered a bourbon neat. Cas didn’t drink much but since Gabe agreed to watch Annie for the night, he decided to indulge. Once they had their drinks, Cas met Dean’s green eyes, “So, Dean… tell me about yourself.”

Dean started telling him the parts of himself that he wasn’t ashamed of, “I’m super old… twenty-eight. I have a little brother Sam who’s a teacher in Stanford, he’s twenty-six. My mom lives in Topeka and my dad died two years ago. I’ve been teaching for four years.”

Wow, lots of information for Cas to address, “Okay, first, I’m twenty-nine so either you’re not old or I’m really old. Two, I’m so sorry about your father.”

Brakes. Go back. Bad topic. Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat and nervously sipped at his whiskey before placing it back down and watching the ice cubes bobbing in the amber liquid, “It’s okay. That’s a big can of worms. Anyway… you said you adopted Annie?”

Clearly, Dean was uncomfortable talking about his father so Cas didn’t push at the sudden change of topic, “Yeah, my partner and I got a call about an abandoned baby. When we got there she was left in a box under a bridge. She was only two-months-old. As I was taking her vitals, I fell in love with her. She fell asleep curled up in my arms and I knew I needed to protect her.”

Dean’s heart ached with sadness and anger, “That’s awful. But I’m so glad she has a loving family.”

They finished their drinks and ordered a round of beers, not wanting to get too intoxicated. They started to talk about little things; favorite bands, T.V shows, pet peeves, memories.  
After about two hours, it was eight o’clock and they were walking back to their cars. Dean started to awkwardly say goodbye, not really wanting to leave when Cas wrapped a strong arm around Dean’s waist and pulled him in for a quick kiss, just testing the waters.

But Dean had different ideas. The second Cas started to back off, Dean latched himself onto Cas’s jacket, deepening their kiss. The feeling of excitement and pleasure running hot through his veins. 

When Cas grabbed a handful of Dean’s ass with one hand, Dean let out an already desperate whimper, “I have two problems. We are in public and neither of us is naked.”

Cas pulled away and chuckled, “Funny, I have the same problems.”

Dean wasted no time speeding the two of them to his close-by home. You could have cut the sexual tension in the Impala with a knife. The trip from the bar to Dean’s front door to his bedroom was a bit of a blur. On the way, they stripped off their jackets and kicked off their shoes, leaving them haphazardly on the floor. When Dean was laying down on his bed, without his dress shirt and tie with his elbows propping him up.  
Standing in front of him, Cas’s predatory eyes took in Dean’s beautiful body before stripping off his own t-shirt.

Dean almost had a stroke because Cas is gorgeous; his tan skin is stretched over his strong muscles. His chest and abs made Dean’s mouth water and his dick strain against his dress pants. Dean had never moved faster than he did when he took his pants off; not caring that he was now completely naked and Cas was still half dressed, clad in only his jeans.

Cas didn’t take his eyes off of Dean who was desperately squirming as Cas slipped off his belt and jeans. He growled out, “Turn over.”

Dean did but not before scrambling over to his bedside drawer and tossing Cas a bottle of lube and a condom. Not caring how eager he seemed, Dean laid on his knees and elbows, burying his face in his pillows. 

Cas’s warm hands smoothed over Dean’s ass, appreciating how willing and attractive he is. After a minute, Cas coated his fingers with lube, warming it up before circling the tight ring of muscles and slowly pushing his finger centimeter by centimeter into Dean. Thinking his moans were enough but still wanting to make sure, Cas softly kissed Dean’s shoulders and back, “Are you sure this is okay?”

“Yes… yes. Cas, please… more.” Dean rolled his hips, trying to get Cas to move and was successful when he started to slowly fucking Dean with one finger before sliding another. 

Dean usually wasn’t one for slow prep, most guys didn’t quite understand how to do it right but Cas found a way to make every second as pleasurable as possible. 

It didn’t take long before Cas asked Dean to turn back over. When Dean laid on his back, his neck and chest were bright pink and covered in a thin layer of sweat. The view of Cas rolling on a condom and stroking himself a few times to spread the lube over himself was enough to fill his spank bank forever. 

The slow drag of Cas’s hard cock pushing completely into Dean’s needy hole was like heaven. Dean’s hand grabbed onto Cas’s back trying to hold him as close as he could. 

Cas rocked into Dean, smirking at the desperate moans and whimpers coming from the man under him, “Feel good?”

Dean could barely get his answer out through Cas’s thrust; all he could manage was a moan and an enthusiastic nod. With his partner’s confirmation, Cas started to fuck Dean harder. The white-hot heat of Dean was overwhelming. 

They both knew that they weren’t going to last much longer so Cas wrapped a hand around Dean’s cock and started to jerk him off in time with his thrusts. He growled and nipped at Dean’s neck, “Fuck, baby. You’re so perfect.”

Even if Dean wanted to make this last longer, his body wasn’t about to let that happen as the waves of pleasure ripped through him. Cas fucked him through his orgasm, closely following him and trying not to collapse on top of Dean. 

Once they were thoroughly spent, Cas rolled off of Dean and peeled off the condom, completely out of breath. After taking the condom from Cas, Dean shuffled to the bathroom to clean up. When he was done, he tossed Cas a towel to wipe himself off. After they were dry Dean flopped back into bed and chuckled, “Best parent-teacher conference ever.”

Cas threw an arm around Dean’s bare shoulders and pulled him close against his side. After a moment of enjoying each other’s company, Cas sighed, “I should go get my car.”

Dean pouted and possessively put a hand on Cas’s defined stomach muscles, “Or you could stay?”

Cas crawled out of bed only to get his cell phone out of his jeans and dialed Gabe’s number. Dean could only hear what Cas was saying, “Hey Gabe, do you mind watching Annie tonight? …I have a life! Just make sure Annie gets to bed on time and no cake before bed, you know that makes her sick… And Gabe? Tell her I love her, okay?” Cas hung up and got back under the covers. 

Dean snuggled himself close to Cas’s side, “You’re an amazing father.”

Subconsciously playing with Dean’s short, sandy-blonde hair, “I try my best. Sometimes it feels like a losing battle.”

Dean rolled over a bit and propped himself up on his elbow, “Cas, seriously, I wished my father was half as caring or loving as you.”

Something about the distant pain in Dean’s voice deeply bothered Cas, “He wasn’t?”

Dean nervously fidgeted, “He um… had a temper. This isn’t really a good after-sex topic.” After a second of silence, Dean added, “But really, you give that girl everything, I can tell. You don’t have to feel bad about enjoying yourself for one night.” Putting extra emphasis on the words enjoying himself.

Not before long, they both fell asleep. Enjoying the relaxation the other’s presence brought them. After one ‘date’ and only talking a few times, it was surprising how comfortable they were with each other but just something about them being together felt right. 

It wasn’t until midnight when Cas’s phone rang. Half asleep, he reached over and answered it, “Hello?”

The small voice that came through the phone snapped him out of his daze in two seconds. It was Annie and she definitely didn’t sound happy. Her voice was small and almost scared, “Daddy? I can’t sleep, you have to say it.”

Dean, who was a very light sleeper, was also awake when Cas smiled to himself, “Of course, I’m sorry my love. Get comfortable in bed. Now, close your eyes. It’s bedtime for little girls.”

Sounding much happier now and slightly muffled by her pillow, Annie mumbled, “Goodnight, Daddy.”

He smiled at the warmth his daughter brought him, “Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you very much.” After hanging up, Cas rolled back over and soothingly rubbed Dean’s warm back, “Sorry, that was Annie. I tell her the same thing every night before bed and she just wanted to hear it.”

Dean melted against Cas’s touch, feeling sleep pull him back, “She’s so cute.”

Cas couldn’t help but press a kiss onto Dean’s shoulder, “Mhmm, go back to sleep.”

They fell asleep with a smile on their faces but Dean and Cas weren’t the only ones; Annie fell asleep cuddling her stuffed bunny and the house phone. The smile her father put on her face peacefully turning into pleasant dreams.


	4. Push

The next morning, Dean woke up with a familiar pain in his ass and an unfamiliar warmth next to him. Rolling over, he was greeted with Cas’s stunning body, “Holy shit, good morning to me.” 

Dean lightly ran a hand over down Cas’s bare side, trying to gently wake Cas up. A barely- coherent mumble of, “Five more minutes.” Came from Cas’s pillow-squished face. 

Not sure if he was pushing it or not, Dean gently kissed Cas’s lips, not caring at all about his morning breath. 

Cas stirred more and snaked an arm around Dean’s middle and pulled him closer. After they kissed for a few more minutes, Cas pulled away but moved his hand up to cradle Dean’s face, “So… last night was really fun. I’d love to see you again.”

Dean was overjoyed but honestly surprised. In his opinion Cas was so far out of his league, he has no idea how he got Cas in his bed. So he couldn’t help but ask, “Really?”

Cas looked completely taken back by that, “Of course, Dean. I mean, have you seen you? Smart, funny, kind, and hot as hell? I’d be crazy if I didn’t want to see you again.”

Unfortunately, Cas’s phone rang again. Groaning, he rolled over to answer it, “Hello?”

Gabe’s voice came through the phone, “Hey, I hope I’m not interrupting anything but Mike needs me to come in to talk in an hour.”

Cas sighed but agreed, “I’ll be home soon.”

At that, Dean pouted and when Cas hung up, he whined, trying to hold Cas down, “No, stay in bed with me.”

Wanting to so bad but knowing he couldn’t, Cas mimicked Dean’s pout, “I wish I could but I need to go home for Annie.”

Dean knew he wasn’t winning this battle, “Alright, fine. Come on, I’ll take you to go get your car.” 

As they pulled themselves out of bed and started to get dressed; Cas in his clothes from the night before and Dean in a Henley, jeans, and boots. Cas tried to sound casual when he asked, “You know, Annie and I usually get breakfast every Saturday… if you wanted to join us?” Cas was praying that Dean would say yes.

And say yes he did, “Definitely! I mean… if I’m not intruding or anything.” Dean hoped he didn’t come off too eager in accepting Cas’s invitation.

After Cas assured Dean that no, he wouldn’t be intruding, Dean drove them to get Cas’s car then followed Cas to his house. 

As soon as they walked in the front door, Annie attached herself to Cas’s legs, “I missed you, daddy!”

Dean’s heart cramped for taking Cas away from Annie but what he said last night still made sense; Cas deserved a night of relaxation. 

Cas smiled and scooped Annie up in his arms, “I missed you too, my love. Mr. Winchester is going to join us for breakfast, okay?”

By Annie’s reaction of cheers and running to go get her shoes on, both Cas and Dean could tell she was totally on board with that plan. Gabe grabbed his backpack and started out the front door calling over his shoulder, “Bye Cas! Bye Cas’s boyfriend!”

Once Gabe was out the door, Cas rolled his eyes and explained to Dean, “Older brother.”

Dean nodded in understanding. Being an older brother himself, he knew how much fun it was to annoy your younger sibling in any way possible.

Once they were alone again, Cas looked around and cringed, “Sorry about the mess. Cleaning kind of takes a back seat sometimes.”

They were standing in the living room which had two couches facing a large T.V, the living room was attached to the kitchen with an open food plan. Off of the living room was one bedroom which was Gabe’s. Down the hallway, was Annie’s bedroom and the door to the basement on the right and Cas’s bedroom and their bathroom on the left. 

Dean, however, seemed unfazed by the laundry, dishes, kid’s toys, blankets, and pillows that covered the living room, “That’s alright. I basically spend every day with kids. Mess doesn’t bother me.”

A minute or so later, Annie came bouncing out of her room, “All ready, daddy!”

As they walk out to Cas’s car, Annie is hanging off Cas’s arm as he picked her up and swung her back and forth. He turned to Dean and asked, “Is Mathew’s good with you?”

Knowing how delicious the local diner’s food was, Dean eagerly agreed, “Heck yeah. I love it there.”

When they did get to the small diner, they slid into the red vinyl booth where Dean and Cas ordered coffee and Annie got some orange juice. For their meal, Annie ordered waffles and strawberries while Cas ordered two fried eggs, sausage, toast, and hash browns. Dean ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns as well.

When they got their food and started to eat Dean and Cas started to talk to Annie about school. Dean was the first one to mention it, “So, Annie, your dad told me that Rebecca wasn’t being too nice to you. Want to tell me about that?”

Annie pushed her strawberries around on her plate and shrugged, “I don’t want to get her in trouble. She’s just trying to be a meanie because she is insecure and self-loathing.”

Dean looked absolutely shocked at that and Cas choked on his toast at how mature his daughter sounded. Once Cas took a drink of coffee and got his breath back, he asked, “Honey, who told you that?”

Through her bite of syrup-covered waffle, she smiled, “Grandma.”

Cas rolled his eyes and groaned, “Of course, she did.” Cas’s mother, Naomi, was supportive and extremely loving towards Annie but she was a retired lawyer and thought that a child should be spoken to like an adult.

Dean chuckled but quickly took the role of teacher again, “Annie, no matter how ‘self-loathing’ somebody may be, that doesn’t mean she can be mean to you. The next time she’s unkind to you, let me know, okay?”

She smiled back at him, her chubby cheeks scrunching up her blue eyes, “Okay, Mr. Winchester.”

Cas slid his hand under the table and reached next to him to squeeze Dean’s knee; more to say thank you than anything sexual.

While they ate their delicious breakfasts, they all decided that Dean should spend the day with them. Once they finished up and got home, Annie begged Cas to let her watch the Jungle Book circa 1967. Agreeing, he and Dean sat next to each other on the couch. Cas had an arm around each of them. 

Through the movie, Cas was subconsciously humming along with “Bare Necessities” which made Dean chuckle and whisper, “How many times have you had to watch this movie?”

Cas whispered back with obvious amusement in his voice, “You don’t even want to know.”

After checking that Annie was wrapped up in the movie, Dean quickly kissed Cas’s cheek. Cas turned back to him with a lust-drunk smile on his face and snuck another quick kiss, bumping his nose against Dean’s but turning back to the T.V before Annie noticed her father kissing her teacher; they weren’t trying to hide their new feelings but they also didn’t want to make Annie uncomfortable. 

They spent the day hanging out, talking, watching movies, and after eating a dinner of homemade pizzas, Annie went off to bed leaving Dean and Cas alone. Now that he could, Cas had Dean under him, kissing him senseless. Breaking away from Dean’s needy mouth, Cas groaned, “Bedroom? Or do you need to go?”

“Don’t you dare tell me to leave.” Dean clawed at Cas’s back, trying to take off his shirt and get at his warm skin. 

Chuckling against Dean’s soft lips, Cas hauled Dean to his feet and led him to his bedroom. Cas was about to put Dean on the bed but he grabbed him before he sat down, “Wait—hold on.” Cas reached behind Dean and grabbed his work utility belt off the bed and tossed it on the floor, along with his dirty socks, and uniform. 

Once the bed was clear, Cas gently laid Dean down on the bed and started to strip off their clothes. When they were finally naked, Cas started to kiss down Dean’s freckle covered body and caught one of his nipples between his teeth gently biting it and flicking his tongue over the bud. 

Dean moaned and ran his fingers through Cas’s hair. His moans only grew as Cas worked his mouth down, sucking on Dean’s hip bones before taking his hard cock all the way down his throat and sucking hard. 

The moan that ripped through Dean was loud enough that Cas had to pull off and kiss Dean quiet, “Baby, you have to be quiet. Annie is sleeping.”

It didn’t take long for Cas to be buried deep inside Dean, lustfully thrusting into Dean’s warm, tight hole; his arms wrapped around Dean’s back, their lips and tongues dancing together. Everything was all pleasure until Cas rested his hand on the crease between Dean’s neck and shoulder. His fingers wrapped around the nape of Dean’s neck and his thumb around Dean’s throat and squeezed.

Dean’s eyes flew open as he shoved Cas off of him and yelled in a broken voice, “Stop!” His hands were shaking and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. The fear coursing through him didn’t stop even when Cas stopped moving completely after pulling out of Dean. 

Cas was terrified that he hurt Dean but when he saw the tears coming from his green eyes, he felt his stomach drop. He gently put a hand on Dean’s cheek and one arm around his shoulders, “Dean? What’s wrong?”

Dean felt the waves of nausea hit him with every shaken breath, “D—don’t put your hard around m—my throat.” Instead of pushing Cas away again, Dean clung onto him, desperately looking for comfort.

Cas held him close against his body, gently rubbing his back in soothing circles, softly hushing him, “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. You’re safe, everything is okay.”

Once Dean’s breathing started to slow, Cas got up to run to the bathroom where he quickly threw the condom away and cleaned himself before pulling on a pair of sweatpants. After, he brought the towel to Dean and helped to clean him up before handing him his boxers. 

Now that things were calmer, Cas sat in front of Dean on his bed and held his hands, “Dean, if we are going to keep doing this I need to know what that was about so I don’t upset you again.”

Surprisingly, Dean yanked his hands out of Cas’s; his eyes turning violent instead of sad, “No. No, you don’t.”

Cas tried to speak even softer, he just wanted to talk to Dean and understand what was wrong, “Dean…”

Before Cas could get the rest of his sentence out, Dean jumped off the bed and angrily started to pull his jeans on. He snarled, “You don’t need to know because it’s none of your fucking business. We aren’t anything.”

Completely taken back by the turn their night had taken, Cas tried to keep up with Dean; pulling on a shirt and trying to talk, “I am so sorry. I really didn’t mean to hurt you, Dean.”

Dean yanked on his Henley, “Fuck you.” He walked out to the living room and started to put on his boots with Cas, who’s now dressed, following behind him. 

Cas gently grabbed onto Dean’s elbow, just trying to slow him down, “Dean—.”

In the middle of the living room, Dean shoved Cas off of him and yelled, “FUCK YOU!”

In the midst of their fight, Gabe stuck his head out of his bedroom where he had a clear view of the living room, “Dude, what is going on?”

At the same time, both Dean and Cas yelled, “Nothing!”

Holding up his hands in exhaustion and defense, Gabe muttered, “Alright… goodnight.”

After his door was closed, Cas tried one more time to get Dean to stay but the jacket and keys in his hands told Cas all he needed to know. 

Dean’s anger filled eyes didn’t turn sad and regretful until Annie stood in the doorway to the living room, clutching her stuffed bunny against her chest and with scared eyes and a timid voice asked, “Daddy?”

Not being able to look Cas or Annie in the eyes, Dean left as quick as he could, slamming the door behind him. 

Cas was the one who locked it behind him before taking a deep breath and walking over to Annie and picking her up, softly stroking her hair and letting her bury her face into his neck, “Why was Mr. Winchester yelling?”

He carried his little daughter back to her bedroom and tried to explain, “Mr. Winchester and Daddy got into a little argument. It’s nobody’s fault, sometimes adults get into arguments.”

She nodded and snuggled back into her warm blankets, “Okay, daddy.”

Instead of going back to his room, Cas got under Annie’s comforter with her; both of them in need of a cuddle. He placed a loving kiss on her forehead as she was already drifting back off to sleep, “It’s bedtime for little girls.”

Dean drove home with tears streaming down his face and a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. What did he do? Cas was trying to be kind. He didn’t mean it. But that didn’t matter. He still did it. It’s his fault. His fault. No! Fuck. It’s not. He shouldn’t have yelled at Cas. Too late now. It’s always too late. Always his fault.

He fell asleep that night with an empty bottle of whiskey in one hand and a half-coherent unsent apology text to Cas in the other.

The next day was a rainy Sunday and Cas’s fourth day off. With no word from Dean, Cas started to cook a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon when Gabe shuffled into the kitchen, his long hair flopped in his eyes, “Dude, what the hell was the yelling about last night?”

Cas sighed and poured the cooked eggs onto a plate, “We just got into a fight. I just need to let him calm down then we’ll talk. Will you go wake up the princess?”

They spent the rest of the day hanging out and doing a ginormous puzzle together to hide from the old, rainy weather that was rolling in.


	5. Rescue

That Monday was Cas’s first day on and he still hadn’t heard from Dean; he just hoped that things at school weren't too awkward with Dean and Annie. 

Surprisingly, Annie seemed completely unfazed by her teacher and her father screaming and Dean found out why when he pulled her aside after school to try to explain, “I just want to apologize for getting into an argument with your father.”

Annie smiled so her blue eyes were staring up at Dean, “It’s okay, daddy said sometimes adults get into arguments.”

Dean let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, “He’s right. Sometimes these things just happen.”

Annie continued to smile at him and told him to have a nice day before walking out to the parking lot to find Gabe’s car. 

Everything is quiet until Thursday which is Cas’s last day of his shift. Eight hours into the shift, around four-thirty Cas and Alfie got a call for a sixty-year-old woman experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain. 

Cas leaned into this radio, “3220, 10-4.” Once his hand was off the radio he turned to Alfie, “Bet you it’s a heart condition.”

Alife replied, “I bet it’s a respiratory problem.”

Stepping harder on the gas, Cas smirked, “Loser buys dinner.”

When they got to the small light blue house, Cas grabbed his medical bag while Alfie pulled the stretcher out of the back of the ambulance. Cas walked up to the front door and knocked, “Topeka EMS.” He checked the doorknob which thankfully, was unlocked. Walking into the living room, Cas saw an older woman doubled over on her couch, her breathing was obviously labored and growing increasingly harder to take deep breaths. Cas crouched in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder, “Ma’am, my name is Cas. I’m an EMT, are you having some difficulties breathing?”

The woman pushed her blonde but growing-grey hair out of her face and tried to answer in a shaky voice, “Yes, honey.”

“We are going to give you some oxygen and get you into the ambulance, okay?” Cas helped the woman out the front door and down her steps before carefully helping her onto the stretcher. Once she was comfortable, Cas put an oxygen mouth on her before he and Alfie lifted the stretcher into the ambulance. 

In the back, Alfie started an I.V while Cas asked her questions, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

Even though the mask muffled her a bit, Cas new what he heard when she answered, “Mary Winchester.”

He floundered for a minute before recovering and pulling his brain cells together, “Do you have a son named Dean?”

Her blue eyes lit up at the mention of her eldest son, “Yes! Do you know him?”

“I do, would you like to call him with my phone?” Cas pulled out his cell phone as an offer which Mary happily accepted. 

Alfie busied himself attaching Mary to their EKG machine while Cas called Dean. He was answered with a grumpy, “What?”

Cas took a deep breath before explaining the call, “I don’t want you to worry but I have your mother in the ambulance. She had some shortness of breath and chest pain. She’s doing okay though. Would you like to talk to her?”

Dean’s tone changed real fast, “Oh my god, yes please.”

Cas took off Mary’s oxygen mask and handed her the phone before turning to Alfie, “Go to Saint Francis Hospital. I’ll stick back here.”

On the phone at home, Dean is already throwing on his shoes and jacket, “Mom?! Jesus Christ, are you okay? What happened?”

Mary sighed at her overprotective son, “I’m just fine, honey. I have a handsome EMT taking care of me.”

Cas smiled at Mary from where he was sitting next to her, typing Mary’s vitals, medications administered, and other notes on the computer. 

From the other end of the phone, Dean was getting into the Impala, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Dean, don’t speed. You know I hate it.” Mary suddenly groaned and dropped Cas’s phone, clutching at her chest as the pain continued to flare up again.

Cas jumped up from his chair and placed the oxygen mask back over her mouth and nose after putting two aspirin pills in her mouth and telling her to chew then swallow them. He quickly ran another EKG which showed some depressions but nothing that resembled a heart attack per se. Putting a soothing hand on her shoulder, Cas tried to reassure her, “Just take some deep breaths, Mary. You’re going to be okay.”

Hearing Dean’s shouts of, “Mom?!” and “Cas!!” Coming through the phone pushed Cas to bend over and pick up his cellphone, trying to calm Dean’s panic, “Dean, she’s okay. Just a bit of chest pain. I got her, okay? You can trust me.”

Letting out a huge relieved sigh, Dean still stepped harder on the gas, “Okay… okay. Just, it’s my mom. You know?”

“I understand, Dean. I won’t let anything happen to her. We are going to Saint Francis Hospital.” Just as he said that Cas heard Alfie turn off the sirens as they pulled into the E.R bay. 

They unloaded Mary on the stretcher and smoothly pushed her into the emergency room. As the E.R doctors and nurses started to work on Mary, Cas put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, “You’re going to be just fine, Mary.” Mary managed to thank Cas again before the nurses whisked her away to do some tests. 

It only took Dean twenty minutes to get to the hospital while he was driving like a madman, pushing the Impala as fast as she could go. By the time he got there, the doctor had already diagnosed his mother with angina; a painful but treatable and manageable heart condition when you do not get enough blood flowing to your heart. 

Running to her bedside, Dean hugged her tight and tried to take a deep breath, “You really scared me, Mom. I love you so much.”

Smiling, Mary hugged her eldest son back, “I love you too, honey.” Dean sat in the chair next to her bed, still holding her hand when Mary’s smiled turned knowing and devious, “So, are you going to tell me the story between you and that adorable EMT?”

Dean ran a hand over his face and leaned back in the chair, “We went on a date, it didn’t go well.”

Instantly knowing her son, Mary shook her head against the crisp white pillowcase, “Dean Winchester, I did not raise a liar.”

Knowing he wasn’t avoiding this, Dean started to explain, “Fine. I’m his daughter’s teacher, we went to get drinks. We… spent the night together… and it was great, okay? We got along and he’s smart and funny and gorgeous and an amazing father. We got breakfast with his daughter who’s the cutest thing on this planet.”

Mary was smiling but obviously confused, “I’m sorry but I don’t understand, what’s the problem?”

“We were going to… spend the night again and you know…” Dean flailed his hands in the air, trying to get his point across but Mary beat him to it.

“You were having sex? Just say it, Dean. You have sex. I have sex. We all have sex.” Mary looked unamused at her son tip-toeing around the topic.

Dean cringed hard, “Jesus Christ, mom! …We were… you know, and it was a total accident but he put his hand on my throat and I freaked out. He tried to help but I told him to go fuck himself and I left… Mom, I yelled that in front of his kid.”

Mary put a loving hand on his cheek, gently stroking his cheekbone with her thumb, “Oh, Dean. My love, I’m so sorry you’re scared. What your father did to us, it wasn’t right. It’s okay to be scared but you need to talk to people, honey.”

Dean couldn’t help the tears that spilled from his green eyes, “I really messed things up.”

“Just tell him what happened. Talk about your feelings, everything will be okay.” She gently wiped away his stray tears, needing to offer her son any comfort she could but when he still didn’t get up Mary made him make eye contact with her, “Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“Go call him.” 

Dean jumped to his feet and had his phone put before he was even in the hall. Once he was alone, he wasted no time calling Cas. He paced back in forth waiting for Cas’s deep voice to come through the phone.

When Cas did answer, he sounded just as worried as Dean felt earlier, “Dean? Please tell me your mother is doing alright.” 

“Yeah, she’s doing better. The doctor said it was angina. Thank you for taking such good care of her.”

Sitting in the passenger seat of the ambulance, Cas let out a sigh of relief, “That’s better than it could have been. Do you need anything? I’m still in the city.” 

Dean couldn’t help but smile because Cas really was perfect, “No, thank you. I just… look, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’d really like to meet up if we could.”

Cas didn’t even hesitate in his answer, “Of course, Dean. When’s good for you?”

Not caring about seeming too eager but just wanting to get through this with Cas, Dean offered, “Tonight?”

Cas seemed to share Dean’s eagerness, Sounds good to me. I’ll be home around 9.”

Feeling much better, Dean seemed to relax, “See you then.” When he hung up., he walked back into the room to thank his mother. 

From where Cas was sitting in the ambulance he playfully slapped Alfie’s shoulder, “You owe me dinner.”

Mary was discharged from the hospital two hours later once the doctors were sure that it truly was just angina. After she was discharged, Dean brought her home, clearly fussing over his mother; placing a pillow behind her on the couch, wrapping her in a blanket, getting her something light to eat, a bottle of water, and the T.V remotes. 

Dean ended up staying with his mother and eating dinner until eight-thirty. Before he left, Dean asked again, “You call me if you need anything, okay? I mean it, mom. I can take time off of work and stay here.”

Mary shook her head and patted Dean’s thigh, “Don’t be silly. Go talk to your guy. Because if you don’t make up with him, point him my way.”

Dean rolled his eyes because his mother is absolutely ridiculous, “I love you, mom.”

By the time Dean got to Cas’s house, Cas was home but Annie was still struggling to stay awake as she dozed off on the couch. 

Cas let him in with a shy smile, “Hey, come on in. You can sit in my room if you want. I’ll be there in a minute.” Gently picking Annie up off the couch, he wrapped her in a blanket with her stuffed bunny held tight in her arms. When she started to fuss and whine, Cas softly whispered to her, cradling her in his strong arms, “Shhh, time for bed, honey.”

Dean smiled to himself because Cas really is an amazing father. After a moment, he got his feet moving towards Cas’s room. While Cas was in Annie’s room, Dean ran into Gabe who looked slightly displeased to see Dean again. The apology was out of Dean’s mouth before he could think, “Hey… sorry about the other night.”

Gabe’s demeanor changed into a look of acceptance and forgiveness, “Not me you should apologize to. Look, I know Cas can be a little bit of a doof but he’s a good guy.”

Dean knew Gabe was right. This whole thing was just a misunderstanding that was blown out of proportion. They said their goodbyes and Dean walked into Cas’s room, carefully sitting on the bed. 

His wandering eyes found Cas’s laundry basket. Next to one basket was a separate one. Dean could see Cas’s blood-splattered uniform shirt inside of it. His thoughts drifted to the things Cas must see and how he manages to push all of that aside and still be the wonderful person and father he is. 

Cas walking into the room and closing the door behind him snapped Dean out of his thoughts, “Hey, sorry. Just had to put her to bed.” He wasted no time sitting down on the edge of the bed with Dean and starting the hard conversation, “So… I’m really sorry about the other night.”

Dean shook his head, “No, I shouldn’t have freaked like that. I guess if you’re going to be fucking me, you should know what bothers me.” He took a deep breath and Cas’s hands, “My father wasn’t kind. He was abusive towards me, my mom, and brother. When I was younger he choked me and didn’t stop until I was half-dead and I guess I’m still scared. Then he died and I just got no closure.”

Cas tightly squeezed Dean’s hand, his heartbreaking for the man in front of him, “You have every reason in the world to be scared. I just want you to know that I would never mean to hurt you.”  
“I know, Cas. I’m sorry.” Dean tried to push down the tears. Not from sadness but the relief of finally getting it off his chest and Cas understanding instead of judging him. 

Pulling Dean into a hug, Cas let Dean bury himself in Cas’s arms, “Thank you for telling me.” After a minute, Cas pulled away and held Dean’s freckle-covered cheeks in his hands, “I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Dean couldn’t stop himself anymore from softly pressing his lips to Cas’s. Dean remembered why he liked Cas so much as a small smile started to form on his lips. 

After they pulled away, Dean regretfully said, “I should go… school is in the morning.” They got up and Dean followed Cas to the front door, hugging him again, just enjoying being close again, “I’m really glad we worked this out.”

Cas smiled back at Dean, running a hand through Dean’s short hair, “Me too. We’ll get dinner soon?”

Dean couldn’t think of anything that would make him happier.


	6. Bond

Over the next month, Dean and Cas hung out more and more; starting to build a real relationship over dinner dates and long phone calls. One day, Cas texted Dean during the day;

C: ‘Baby, Gabe is watching Annie tonight.’

D: ‘Oh yeah?’

C: ‘Yeah. You and I could grab dinner. You could sit on my face etc.…’

D: ‘Cas!’

D: ‘…good idea.’

C: ‘ ;)’

D: ‘Do me a favor?’

C: ‘Anything for you.’

D: ‘Don’t sext me while I’m sitting in front of your daughter.’

Around Christmas time is when Dean and Cas decided to start seeing each other. Cas and Annie went to go see Chuck and Naomi in Kansas City while Dean visited Mary, who was doing well with a new heart medication. Unfortunately, Sam couldn’t make it back to Kansas for the holidays but managed to skype with Dean and his mother. They decided not to meet each other’s parents just yet as their relationship was still new. 

After returning from their families, Dean, Cas, Annie, and Gabe all spent Christmas day with each other. As they sat around the Novak’s small Christmas tree drinking eggnog, spiked for everyone except Annie, they exchanged gifts. Cas gave Dean a vinyl record of Led Zeppelin, he gave Gabe baking equipment, and he gave Annie something she’d been begging for, a new bike. 

She hugged him super tight and said thank you a million times. Cas chuckled and kissed her head, “You’re welcome, sweetheart. When the weather is a little nicer we’ll go riding, okay?”  
Dean gave Cas an EMT pin that had a cross carved into the back of it. He gave Annie a stuffed zebra that was ridiculously big (and probably a little too expensive) after she drew one in class the other day. He also got Gabe a gift card to his favorite bakery. 

They spent six happy months getting to know each other. In the middle of June on Annie’s last day of first grade, the three of them got dinner together. About half-way through their meal, Cas cleared his throat, “So, Annie… you may have noticed that Mr. Winchester and I have been seeing each other a lot. How do you feel about that?”

After thinking for a moment, Annie answered, “Like… boyfriends?”

Cas hoped that was okay with her but if it wasn’t it wasn’t a question in his mind choosing his daughter’s happiness over his relationship, “Yeah, honey.”

Thankfully, Annie just smiled at the two adults, “Okay!”

Cas took Dean’s hand under the table and happily squeezed it, “You’re going to be seeing him a lot. So, we were thinking if you’d like to call him Dean, you could.”

Again, Annie took everything in stride, “Okay!” But after a moment of silence, she piped up again, “…does that mean I get to have a boyfriend?”

Cas’s head snapped up in shock as he thought about all the things he had done with his past boyfriends and what he and Dean do as his stomach dropped and his face paled. Speaking with a deadly seriousness, “No. You are never allowed to have a boyfriend.”

After they had made things official, nothing changed. Dean did babysit once or twice but never for a long time; only when Cas was still at work and Gabe couldn’t be home in time. Speaking of which, both Gabe and Dean had started to grow on each other. 

During summer vacation and Cas’s fourth day on, Gabe needed to leave the house as soon as Cas got home, which is exactly what he did. In his rush out the door, he didn’t notice the distress his younger brother was in. 

Gabe was out the door before Cas could take his boots off, which he didn’t do. He just sunk down to the floor, leaning his back against the couch.

Annie knew something was wrong when Cas didn’t pick her up but more than that, he didn’t say anything or even look at his little girl. The only thing she could think of was running to the fridge to look at Dean’s number that was for emergencies. Grabbing the house phone, Annie quickly dialed it; as soon as the line stopped ringing she answered in a shaky voice, “Dean?”  
It didn’t take Dean long at all to figure out something was wrong, “Annie? What’s going on?”

Staying in the kitchen but cautiously eyeing her dad, her blue eyes started to fill with tears, “Something’s wrong with daddy. He won’t get up. He got home from work and won’t get up.”  
Dean could feel his heart stop in his chest and bile creep up his throat, “What? Is… is he awake, sweetheart?” With her shy reply of “yes”, Dean’s blood pressure started to even out now that he knew Cas’s health wasn’t at risk, “I’ll be there in five minutes, okay? Just stay on the phone with me.”

Keeping good by his promise, Dean walked through their front door only five minutes later. Cas was still sitting unmoving on the living room floor with Annie carefully watching from the kitchen. 

Dean quickly walked over to Annie and hugging her, trying to show her that everything was going to be okay, “Why don’t you go to your room for a little bit?”

Annie listening and quickly walked to her room, leaving Dean alone with Cas. Crouching in front of his boyfriend, Dean put a gentle hand on Cas’s stubble-covered cheek, “Hey, you okay?” With no answer, Dean used his other hand to firmly but not harshly bring Cas’s chin up to meet his eyes, “Cas? Look at me. What happened?”

Seeing the broken look in Cas’s otherwise joyful blue eyes crushed Dean. What Cas said didn’t help at all either, “A bomb went off on a bus today… fifteen people died…”

Dean’s eyes filled with sympathy, “Oh… Cas. Come on, hop up.” Offering his boyfriend his hands, Dean heaved Cas to his feet and supported him as they walked to the shower. After helping Cas strip off his clothes, Dean left him in the shower to try and wash away the stressful day he had.

After his shower, Dean handed Cas some pajamas and lead him towards the bed, “You need to rest. I’ll stay here and watch Annie.”

Cas didn’t fight it as he flopped down in bed before saying a quick thank you to Dean and almost instantly falling asleep.

Dean softly kissed Cas’s cheek and turned out his light, closing the door behind him. After leaving Cas’s room, he knocked on Annie’s door. Cracking it, he smiled at her, “Hey, your dad isn’t feeling too good so we are going to let him rest so, you and I are going to hang out for a while.”

From where she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by her stuffed animals and a small tea set, “Okay! Right now, we are having a tea party.”

Dean scoffed and happily walked over to where Annie was sitting with her stuffed bunny, zebra, and teddy bear, “Well, any good tea party needs a waiter.” As he went to go fill up her small plastic teapot with the iced tea in the fridge and try to find some proper tea-time snacks, Dean couldn’t help but smile at how sweet and innocent Annie is. That quickly changed when he remembered how her life started and the horrific scene Cas had to endure today; it made him hate the world and the people in it. However, when he walked back into Annie’s room, back into the small bubble of make-believe, Dean tried to forget about the bad in the world and focus on this moment of happiness.

A bit later in the day, Dean cooked him and Annie some pasta. After making sure to keep some leftovers in the fridge for Cas, Dean decided to try and be a responsible adult, turning to Annie and suggesting, “Why don’t you take a bath and I’ll sit right outside the door in case you need anything, okay?”

Annie’s bath and the rest of her bedtime routine went smoothly. For the first time, Dean tucked Annie in all by himself. Feeling like it wouldn’t be weird, he snuggly wrapped her blanket around her and whispered, “It’s bedtime for little girls.” Before kissing her head and turning out the light, still leaving her door cracked after he left. 

Back in Cas’s room, Dean brushed his teeth with the toothbrush he started leaving at Cas’s, he washed his face and stole a pair of Cas’s boxers and a t-shirt that was a little big on him. Before getting into bed, Dean left a glass of water on Cas’s night stand with a bottle of aspirin and a note that said, ‘Annie has been fed and she’s happily sleeping. Drink some water and take the aspirin if you need it, there are leftovers in the fridge.’

It didn’t take Dean long to fall asleep curled up close to Cas. At some point in the middle of the night, Cas woke up due to being uncomfortable in his position. However, when he read the note that was sitting on his nightstand he smiled and rolled over, softly placing a hand on Dean’s hip and kissing his shoulder blade, whispering, “Thank you.”

Cas didn’t wake up again until very early in the morning when he felt Annie’s little finger poking his bicep, “Daddy?”

Barely cracking an eye, Cas’s sleep-filled voice answered, “Yes?”

“Do you think it would be okay if I slept in here? I had a bad dream.” This time, Cas actually opened his eyes and the sight of his little girl in even the smallest amount of pain wasn’t something he was okay with. Not thinking twice, Cas opened his arms and easily swung Annie up into the bed, stuffed bunny and all. She snuggled between her father and Dean, happy to just hold Cas’s hand. It didn’t take long for both Cas and Annie to be back asleep.

Dean was the next one to wake up a few hours later. He instantly noticed a second body lying next to him. Slowly opening his green eyes, Dean saw that Cas was already awake with a small smile on his face. When Cas saw Dean looking at him, his smile grew, “Morning, Dean. Thank you so much, I’m sorry about last night… it was just a lot.”

Dean rolled over so he and Cas were completely facing each other but not touching due to the little sleepy ball of cute taking up most of the bed, “You don’t have to thank me. I want to be here for you both.”

Cas reached over to touch the only part of Dean he could without waking up his daughter; gently resting his hand on Dean’s cheek, Cas stroked his thumb over Dean’s freckle-covered cheeks, “I love you.”

When Dean said, “I love you too.” His smile could have blinded the sun.

Cas decided to get out of bed and cook a big breakfast because after not eating dinner last night, he was starving. After a quick shower, Dean joined him, followed by a still half-asleep Annie a while later. They ate pancakes, bacon, hash browns, eggs, and sausage; the smell of the good food pulling Gabe out of his bedroom who got in very late last night. 

When Annie was in the bathroom, Cas filled Gabe in about his day yesterday; which Gabe profusely apologized for not noticing. Cas said he understood and the brothers hugged it out. 

At lunchtime, Dean, Cas, and Annie were all sitting around the table with bowls of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Annie refused to eat and instead opted to bounce in her seat and play with her food.

Dean looked at Cas but Cas was already looking at him. After neither of them did anything, Cas nudged Dean with his elbow and gave him a look that said, “Well? What are you going to do about it?”

Getting the message, Dean dawned his ‘teacher voice’ and as sternly as he could he said, “Annie, eat your sandwich or you will go sit in the corner until you decide you want your lunch.”  
Her bouncing quickly stopped and she started to eat her lunch, earning Dean a thumbs up and a wink from Cas. 

Dean’s thought of, 'Fatherhood is a nice feeling.' Was quickly pushed out of his head but the smile it brought to his face lingered.


	7. Show

Dean was relaxing on his couch and skyping with Sam when he brought up what was really going on in his mind, “Hey, Sammy… could I ask you something?”

Rolling his eyes, Sam seemed displeased, “Dude, for the last time I wasn’t the one who stole your Halloween candy! It was mom!”

Dean seemed completely confused, “What? No, not that. Do… do you think I would be a good dad? Like, I wouldn’t be like dad?” 

Sam could see the worry and desperation on his older brother’s face and he was immediately ready to help him, “No! No, Dean. Don’t even talk like that. You’re a great man and you’ll be a great father but I need to know… why do you ask?”

Dean fidgeted with his beer bottle, “This thing between Cas and I is really going well and I think that it’s serious and I really love him, Sammy. I’m just scared I’m going to hurt Annie. I don’t want her to get used to me then have Cas and I not work out.”

“You are an amazing person and the stuff you’ve been through… it won’t make you like dad, if anything it will help you make sure you are nothing like him. I know I really don’t tell you enough but I love you, big brother.”

Dean cut him off with a hand in the air, “Okay… too many feelings. Love you too, bitch. Talk later.”

A bit later after the brothers hung up, Dean texted Cas knowing he wasn’t driving the ambulance today:

D: ‘How’s work?’

C: ‘Stressful. These summer nights bring out all the crazies.’

D: ‘So, tonight would be a bad night to talk?’

C: ‘… that sounds ominously bad. Something wrong?’

D: ‘No! Sorry, that came out wrong. Just wanted to chat about something.’

C: ‘Jesus, baby. You scared the hell out of me. Of course, we can talk tonight. I get out of work a bit late though.’

D: ‘Sad. What time?’

C: ‘Ten.’

D: ‘Is Gabe watching Annie tonight?’

C: ‘Yeah.’

D: ‘Stay over?’

C: ‘I will take you up on that offer.’

D: ‘I’ll save some dinner for you. See you later, be safe. Love you.’

C: ‘You’re the best. Love you too, baby.’

Before Cas got out of work, Annie called him to say goodnight. Knowing Annie was happily sleeping with her Uncle Gabe watching her, Cas didn’t feel bad about spending the night at Dean’s.  
At almost eleven o’clock, Cas knocked on Dean’s door, completely exhausted. As soon as Dean answered the door, he could see the dark bags under Cas’s eyes and the way he slumped his shoulders, trying to alleviate the soreness of his back. Knowing just what Cas needed, Dean wrapped his arms around Cas’s waist and gave him a long hug.

Cas smiled and kissed the side of Dean’s head, “Hey, baby.” Cas held Dean close, softly rubbing his back, happy to finally have some alone time with his boyfriend. 

Inside Dean’s house, Cas took off his heavy work boots, groaning as they finally released his tired feet. Dean had already set him up a plate of grilled chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes with a cold beer. As they sat across from each other and Cas started to eat he asked Dean with a skeptical look, “You wanted to talk?”

Snapping himself out of his infatuation with the man sitting across from him, Dean’s expression changed to being worried and clearly nervous, “I would like to think that things with me and you are good.” That earned him an agreeing nod from Cas, “And I love you and Annie and I guess I’m just worried that I’m going to ruin her of something… I’m sorry it’s stupid.”

Cas took Dean’s hand from across the table and supportively squeezed it, “This—me and you. I’m in it for the long haul. I want you, Dean. Only you. And Annie absolutely adores you, I don’t think you could ever do wrong in her eyes.”

Already feeling better, Dean breathed out a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Cas.”

Cas finished his dinner and took a quick shower and was about to change into some comfortable clothes he keeps at Dean’s but when he walked back into Dean’s room, he was pleasantly surprised.

Dean was lying on his large bed in a pair of pretty pink panties; his hard flushed cock was trapped and leaking against the soft, silky material. His gorgeous freckles covering his tan skin almost distracted Cas enough that he didn’t see Dean toss a condom at him and smirk, “Lay down and relax.”

Being caught off guard, Cas barely caught the foil packet before dropping the towel he had around his waist and walking over to the bed, his cock already growing hard. As he lounged on the bed, he tore open the packet and rolled the condom onto himself. Cas slowly stroked himself as he watched Dean start to take the panties off but was quickly cut off my Cas’s low growl, “Leave them on.”

Listening to Cas, Dean scrambled onto all fours with his round ass facing Cas and pulled the thin fabric of his panties aside, revealing his slick and open hole. As seductively as he could, Dean slightly wiggled his ass and moaned, pushing a finger into himself, “Wanted to stretch myself out for you.”

With Cas’s low groan as encouragement, Dean pushed in a second finger; he wasn’t stretching himself out as he already did that while Cas was showering, instead, he was just teasing Cas.  
It didn’t take either of them very long to be fed up with waiting. Turning back around to face Cas, Dean applied a fair amount of lube onto Cas’s painfully hard cock. Dean lined himself up and slowly sunk onto Cas until he was fully buried in Dean. 

Cas held onto Dean’s hips hard enough to leave bruises; throwing his head back, Cas loudly moaned at the white-hot, tight heat of Dean’s hole. The string of absolute filth coming from Cas was enough to make a sailor blush so of course, Dean’s beet red blush flushed over his chest and up his neck, not stopping at his cheeks but continuing to the tips of his ears. With every rotation and seductive slide of Dean’s hips drove Cas crazier, “Fuck, baby. Oh god, you feel so good. Just look at you. So perfect, taking my cock like the perfect boy you are.”

With Dean enthusiastically riding and bouncing on Cas’s cock with his head thrown back and his unabashed desperate moans filling the silence of the house, Cas knew he wasn’t going to last very long. He tried to warn Dean but it didn’t seem to make a difference as Dean didn’t let up at all, he just rode Cas’s cock harder.

Not before long, Cas came deep into Dean, filling the condom and pushing Dean over the edge with him. They both came with each other’s names on their lips.

When Dean finished, he soiled his pretty panties, completely soaking them. As he rolled off of Cas, he tried not to pout.

Cas clearly noticed and kissed Dean before helping him take off the panties, “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll buy you some more… many, many more.”

Dean snuggled against Cas’s side, “That was nice. Missed you.”

“Missed you too, baby.” Cas was about to get comfortable when his phone beeped. Dean rolled over and handed it to him. When Cas looked at his phone, he saw he had a new voicemail from his mother.

“Hello, Castiel! I called Gabe and he said you were at your boyfriend’s house! It’s wonderful that you’re enjoying yourself! You should because let me tell you, boyfriends—husbands get insufferable after a long time. Oh, honey, I miss you so much! I don’t know why you ever left our house, you never visit. Well, I’ll just be sitting here waiting for my son’s and grandbaby to visit us. Talk soon! Love you!”

At the end of the message, Cas opened up the picture app on his phone and pulled up a photo of his father making a ridiculous face and his mother looking completely unamused. He showed Dean and rolled his eyes, “My dad is probably driving her crazy.”

Laughing Dean noticed one picture in the row of photos at the bottom of the screen, “Wait— what’s that?” 

Cas clicked on the photo in question and blushed profusely, “That is what happens when Annie and my mother team up on me.” The photo was of Cas in makeup and jewelry with hair clips holding his black hair up in odd directions.

Needing to tease his boyfriend, Dean smirked and gently elbowed Cas’s side, “I think you make a pretty princess.”

Cas shook his head and started to put his phone away but Dean pouted and shook Cas’s arm, “No, come on. Show me more.”

Deciding he wasn’t going to win this one because there was no way he could deny Dean anything, “This one is the first picture I have of her. It was a few weeks after I adopted her after we got her healthy and some weight put on her.” It was a picture of a younger looking Cas in loose pajamas with a bundle of pink blanket in his arms. 

The next picture was Cas trying to stay awake and Annie screaming her head off. Another one was Annie’s first birthday, her on a pony, and one of Cas sitting in the driver’s seat of an ambulance in his uniform with Annie on his lap as she played with the lights and sirens. 

Dean couldn’t help but smile as he scrolled through the pictures, “You’re such a cute little family.” 

Cas said nothing, he just took his phone back and took a photo of him kissing Dean’s cheek. Dean knew what it meant though, he knew it was a silent invitation; a way to say, “I’d like you to be my family too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was really short. Sorry!


	8. Relax

Cas had Dean’s face against his bare chest, his arms holding his boyfriend close against him. As Cas absent-mindedly trace soothing patterns onto Dean’s soft, warm skin. Before either of them could drift into sleep, Cas quietly said, “Me, you, and Annie should take a trip somewhere.”

Dean was instantly on board, “That sounds like an awesome idea! What about the beach?”

Cringing, Cas apologetically answered, “Can I tell you something awful? Ann has never been to the beach.”

Dean could already smell the warm salt coming from the crashing waves, he could feel the sun on his skin as he and Cas watch Annie play in the sand, “We are just going to have to change that.”

A few days later, after Cas took two weeks off of work, the three of them were on a plane to Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Dean and Cas had already set up a rental home by the ocean for June twenty-eighth to July sixth. They had also rented a Jeep for their vacation. 

After getting settled in the two bedroom- one bathroom beach cottage, they all got changed into their swimming gear and headed to the close-by beach.

Nothing could beat the look of wonder in Annie’s blue eyes the first time she saw the light, sandy beaches, and the sun-sparkling blue water. Cas squeezed his hold on Dean’s hand as a thank you before having to take off to try and keep up with Annie’s running feet.

Three days into their vacation, they were back at the beach. Cas walked to the concessions stand to get some drinks for them while Dean kept an eye on Annie.

She climbed on the rocks, looking for “magical sea creatures” that may be hiding there. Watching her goof around was giving Dean mini-heart attacks. Even though he was only a very short distance—really only an arm’s length away from her—he still needed to remind her, “Hey, be careful girly. The rocks are wet.”

From his lips to God’s ears. A few minutes later, Annie jumped on a particularly slippery rock causing her to slip and fall onto the sand, scraping her leg on the way down.

Dean immediately was by her side, trying to dust off the sand and hush her cries. He knew she was most likely more shaken up than hurt but the blood leaking from the wound on her calf still worried him.

Through her cries, Annie sobbed, “Daddy!” 

Dean was quick to pick her up and carry her over to their blanket which was luckily close by. He held her close to his body and tried desperately to help, “Oh, honey. You’re okay.”

On their blanket, Dean sat cross-legged and started to put her down on the blanket to try and access the damage but Annie made her protests known.

Surprisingly and seemingly out of nowhere, she whined through her blubbering tears, “No, daddy! Pick me back up!”

Realizing that Annie was calling Dean her dad left him in a state of shock. The only thing he could do was wrap her in a towel and hold her. 

By the time Cas was back, Annie’s tears had started to slow. Cas, ever the protector, worriedly sat with his boyfriend and daughter, scooping Annie up into his arms, “What happened?”

Feeling like an absolute failure, Dean apologetically said, “She was playing on the rocks and slipped and scraped herself. I’m so sorry, Cas. I should have been watching her more.”

Knowing that nobody’s life was in danger, Cas visibly relaxed, “It’s okay. Kids get hurt, it happens.”

Dean took Annie back into his lap as Cas used one of the cold waters he had just bought to rinse off the blood and dirt before pulling a first aid kit out of his backpack. Earning him an affectionate eye roll from Dean, “Typical.”

Cas wasted no time spraying the scrape with antiseptic spray, applying some antibacterial ointment, and wrapping it in a clean bandage. He gently kissed it and smiled at Annie who was snuggled in Dean’s lap, “Good as new.”

After the rock incident, they decided to leave the beach and go get some dinner. Before dinner, they stopped at their rental house to shower and change. 

While Annie was in a shower, Dean and Cas were changing in their room when Dean grabbed onto Cas’s arm with a panicked look on his face. Cas thought that he was still upset about Annie’s injury so he was quick to console him, “Dean, I promise everything is alright. You know how kids are, they fall, they get hurt—”

Dean quickly cut his boyfriend off in a shaky voice, “—she called me dad.”

Cas looked just as shocked as Dean but much more worried, “How… how do you feel about that?”

When the smile spread across Dean’s lips and the tears of joy formed in his eyes, Cas knew everything was okay. Dean pulled Cas into a tight hug, “I’m so happy, Cas.”

Cas hugged him back, letting a tear fall from his own eyes, “Me too, baby. I love you so much.”

Not meaning to but using Cas’s t-shirt as a tissue, Dean sniffled, “I love you more.”

After letting Dean get his emotions out, Cas lovingly kissed him, “Come on, you. Let’s go get some dinner.”

By the time Annie bounced back into the small living room, she was wearing a pretty white dress with a blue floral print that Dean had bought her. They all headed to go get some BBQ at a local restaurant.

The rest of their beach vacation was going great and soon it was the fourth of July. Dean went to the local grocery store to get beer, stuff for hamburgers, lemonade, and ice cream. He also thought to get ear plugs for Annie. 

After getting back to the house, Dean fired up the grill. As they sat around the outdoor table eating their burgers, Dean and Cas enjoyed their cold beer and rolled their eyes as Annie blew bubbles in her lemonade. 

With full stomachs, they sat on the outdoor swing to watch the fireworks. Much to both Dean and Cas’s happiness, Annie decided to sit on Dean’s lap. Cas took a blanket and wrapped it around the three of them. 

Unfortunately, as soon as the fireworks started Annie covered her ear and started to tear up at the loud booms. 

Dean was quick to pull out the earplugs he had in his pocket and hand them to Cas who easily put them in her ears. Once the noise was muffled, she happily sat with her father and Dean, enjoying the beautiful colors that lit up the sky.


	9. Crash

“Alright, Charlie and I are going to hit the road now.” Dean finished loading his duffle bag into the back of Charlie’s yellow ‘monstrosity’ of a car.

“Okay, baby. Be safe and have a good trip.” Cas was restocking the back of the ambulance as he hung up with Dean. It was the end of August and school was starting in two weeks. Dean and Charlie, who was a middle school teacher in Lawrence, were driving to an educator’s conference in Wichita.

Cas was busy working a usual shift of eight in the morning to eight at night when he got a call over the radio. It was five twenty-seven at night, “3220, two car MVC. Possible entrapment. Highway 335, past mile marker 6.”

The accident was only a few minutes out of Topeka but it still took Alfie and Cas a few minutes longer than usual to get through the traffic that had accumulated. When they got to the scene of the accident, Cas’s heart stopped in his chest.

Charlie’s AMC Gremlin was on the far left side of the highway; the roof and windshield were both completely crushed. A large red Ford F-350’s from driver’s side bumper looked mangled. The driver of the truck, a middle-aged male, was being checked out by another ambulance. 

Cas could barely move until he realized that the firefighters were prying the passenger door off Charlie’s car. He grabbed his med bag and started to run to the car; on the way, he saw Charlie being wheeled away on Hannah and Miriam’s stretcher. He stopped quickly to make sure she was okay. With tears in her eyes, Charlie was trying to calm her panicked breathing as she shakily said, “D—Dean…”

After that, nothing, not hell nor high water could stop Cas from getting to Dean. With Alfie pulling the stretcher behind him, Cas ran up to the passenger door. Now that the door was off and Cas could see Dean he nudged the firemen out of the way, hurriedly putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder, “Baby? Hey, it’s me. I got you.”

Dean’s green eyes found Cas’s as he tried to laugh, “Who let this guy in here?”

Cas ignored Dean’s joking and put a C-collar on his boyfriend’s neck, trying to avoid any further damage. Trying to hold it together, Cas yelled, “Alfie! Bring the spine board and stretcher over here!”

Trying to waive off all this attention, Dean whined, “Cas, I’m fine. My back doesn’t hurt.”

Cas however, was having none of it, “Shut up.” With the help of Alife and the firefighters, they carefully pulled Dean out of the car and loaded him in the back of Cas and Alfie’s ambulance.  
In the ambulance, Cas tied a blue band around Dean’s right arm and softly said, “Big stick, keep your arm still.” Carefully, he pushed in the I.V needle and winched at the hiss Dean let out, “Sorry, baby.”

Removing the blue band, Cas grabbed a pair of fabric scissors and cut Dean’s t-shirt open and sticking the white circular heart- rate monitor stickers onto his chest. 

Alfie put an O2 monitor on Dean’s left index finger and an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, “Take some deep breaths, Dean.”

Not wanting to wait any longer, Cas told Alfie to go to Stormont Vail Hospital while he stayed in the back fussing over Dean, “What hurts?”

Trying to calm his boyfriend down, Dean offered, “Cas, just take a breath.”

But the protective EMT was having none of it, “Dean Winchester, so help me God, tell me what hurts or I’m going to lose it.”

Admitting defeat, Dean sighed, “My ankle, my side, and my neck.” 

Not giving a single fuck at the moment, Cas cut Dean’s sweatpants off of him and tried to ignore his whines of, “Cas! My comfy pants!”

Feeling down his boyfriend’s legs for any injuries Cas hushed Dean, “I’ll buy you some more.” Once he reached his right ankle the swelling and color of it signified an obvious issue, “I think it’s fractured. We’ll get you an x-ray.” After putting a splint on Dean’s ankle, Cas covered him with a blanket, realizing that his boyfriend was pretty much naked, other than his boxers.

Holding up a finger and a light in front of Dean’s green eyes, Cas instructed, “Follow my finger with your eyes.” 

Happy with Dean’s equal and reactive pupils, Cas started to clean his cuts and the small amount of blood off his cheeks from the cut given to him by the airbag, “What happened, baby?”

Wincing at the antiseptic, Dean answered, “We were just driving and some guy merged into us, hitting the passenger side. Charlie panicked and over corrected. We rolled over but it wasn’t her fault.”

Finally taking a breath, Cas held Dean’s hand, “Of course it’s not her fault. It’s called an accident for a reason. We’ll get you both fixed up.”

It didn’t take them long to get to the hospital and get Dean into the E.R bay doors. After talking quickly with the nurses, Cas had to let Dean go and get back to work, I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you so much, baby.”

Smiling through the pain, Dean squeezed Cas’s hand, “I love you more. Can you call my mom for me? Just… don’t let her come here, it’s not good for her to be rushing around.”

Obviously agreeing, Cas reluctantly walked back out to the ambulance knowing Dean was in good hands. 

As Alfie and Cas clean out the back of the ambulance, Cas called Mary. After a few rings, Mary’s loving voice answered, “Hello?”

Trying to sound as confident as possible, Cas started talking, “Hi, Mary. It’s Cas.”

She sounded delighted to hear from her son’s boyfriend, “Oh, sweetie! How are you?”

“I’m well. I’m actually calling to let you know that Dean and Charlie were in a car accident today. They’re both doing just fine and are at Stormont Vail. I assure you, they’re both doing well and have no major injuries. He did ask for you to stay home and he will update you when he can.”

“Oh… well, thank you so much for telling me! Of course, he said that but if it would help him feel better, I will stay home.” Clearly, Mary knew her son and his thought process. After chatting for another minute, they hung up.

Two hours later, Cas got a phone call from Dean which he quickly answered, “Baby? Are you alright?”

He knew instantly that Dean sounded weird, “Yeah. The doctor said I have a hairline fracture on my ankle, a few broken ribs, and a sprained neck. Oh! And a minor concussion. They have me on some really good pain medication. Like really good. Real good.”

Managing to chuckle and relax a bit more, Cas smiled, “I’m glad you’re okay. How’s Charlie?”

Not a real answer but still proving to Cas that Charlie was okay, Dean yelled, “Oh! They put her in the same room as me! Say hi, Charlie!!”

Her just as slurred reply of, “Hi, Cas!” was enough to calm the rest of Cas’s nerves. Along with being on some pain meds herself, Charlie had a minor concussion, whiplash, a few cuts and bruises, and a fractured wrist. 

“Hi, Charlie. I only have another half hour left of my shift then I’ll be by to get you. Stay out of trouble, you two.” Letting his smile linger after hanging up, the last thirty minutes of his shift seemed to fly by and soon, Cas was back at the hospital; only this time in his personal car instead of the ambulance. 

Trying to get his broken drugged-up boyfriend and their favorite lesbian through the hospital and into his car was much more of an issue then Cas would have previously thought. They just wanted to run opposite ways and Dean decided to abuse both Cas and Charlie with his metal crutches. 

Cas decided to have both Dean and Charlie stay at his house for the night to keep an eye on them. Once they got back at Lawrence, Annie came bouncing up to the front door to unlock it after seeing Cas’s car pull up in the driveway. She seemed elated to see Charlie again, “Hi, Charlie!” 

The redhead leaned down and smiled at Annie, “Oh hello, my little friend!”

Hearing the new people in the house, Gabe walked out from the kitchen; his eyes growing large and worried at the sight of them, “Holy hell, what happened to you guys?”

Cas frowned, “Car accident.”

Gabe cringed but tried to sound positive, “Well, if you guys are staying, I’ll throw on a few more burgers.”

After eating a good dinner, Charlie stayed on the pull out couch fully-supplied with the full Harry Potter series. 

After putting Annie to bed, Cas got Dean comfortable in bed with a pillow under his ankle and about a million more around him, Dean finally gave him a fed up look, “Cas please, stop fussing. I’m okay.”

And he did stop until Dean closed his eyes and started to fall asleep but Cas stayed awake watching Dean until a green eye peeked up at him, “Will you stop watching me? It’s creepy. Go to sleep.”

Instead of going right to bed, Cas kissed Dean’s forehead and whispered through the dark, “I need you, Dean.”

Pulling himself out of his sleepiness, Dean realized that Cas was still freaked out about the sight of seeing Dean being pulled out of a car. Dean lovingly took Cas’s hand and kissed it, “I’m right here, I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

After a long stressful day, both of them found sleep easily that night; reassured by each other’s slow, even, and steady breaths.


	10. Live

Two years later

It was a sunny Friday in the middle of May. Annie is now nine and in the third grade but she was still the same sweet girl she always was. Dean is officially daddy number two and Cas couldn’t be happier having his boyfriend, daughter, and brother all happy under the same roof. On school days, Dean brought Annie to school while Cas was still working as an EMT in Topeka. 

However, on this Friday, Cas was off from work and spent the day cleaning and cooking as tonight was a very big night; today was the day Dean and Cas’s families would be under the same roof for the first time.

Once Dean and Annie got home from school, Dean started pacing the living room while Cas and Annie relaxed on the couch. Cas rolled his eyes and nudged his daughter up, “Go hug dad and tell him to relax.”

Dean stopped and apologetically winced, “Sorry… I just haven’t seen Sammy in three years. What if he’s not the same? I’m not the same.”

The next thing Dean felt was his little girls arm around him. He looked down at her blue eyes and shining smile as she tried to help him feel better, “It’ll be okay, daddy.”

He stroked a hand over her long hair which was a little long and “Cas, just cut it already!” “But she loves it, Dean. When she wants to cut it we will.” “She’s going to start sitting on it!” “You can’t tell me she doesn’t look beautiful.” Dean leaned down and kissed her head, thanking her for helping.

That was when the doorbell rang and Dean jumped about three feet in the air, running to the front door, Dean quickly opened it. In the blink of an eye, he was face to face with his younger brother who was now bigger than him. Dean’s smile could have blinded the sun, “Holy shit! Sammy!”

The two brothers tightly hugged each other, their happiness evident after not seeing each other in years. Cas stood up, admittedly anxious to meet the love of his life’s younger brother. He could hear Dean’s emotional voice, “I missed you, man.”

When they pulled away from each other, Cas got a better look at Sam’s face; he had long brown hair and a strong jawline like Dean. He was taller than Dean and his eyes were more hazel than the brilliant green that Dean’s were. 

Sam smiled at Dean with all the adoration that a younger sibling has for their elder sibling, “I missed you too! Jesus… you got old.”

Once Dean led Sam and his girlfriend, who was behind him, inside it took Annie about one second to bounce over to Sam. Dean excitedly introduced his new little family, “Sammy, this is Cas and Annie.”

Cas took a step forward to shake Sam’s hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too. Glad I finally get to meet the guy who makes my brother so happy.” After a minute, Sam crouched down to Annie’s level, sticking out his hand, “Hi, Annie. It’s nice to meet you.”

She ignored his outstretched hand, instead opting to throw her arms around Sam’s neck and hug him, “It’s nice to meet you too, Uncle Sammy.”

Sam did not care about how wet his eyes got as he hugged Annie back. When he finally stood up, Dean smacked the back of his head and murmured, “Bitch.”

Then it was Sam’s turn to introduce his partner, putting one hand on the pretty blonde girl’s back, he nudged her forward, “This is my girlfriend, Jessica.”

After their introductions, they all sat on the couch just trying to catch up. It wasn’t long before Gabe came back home with his girlfriend, Kali. Then Charlie and her girlfriend, Dorothy came over. Then Mary and finally Chuck and Naomi. 

They were all sitting in the living room, some on chairs or the couch, telling stories and drinking beer. Mary and Naomi were bonding over raising their sons and Chuck was sitting with Annie, telling her fun made-up stories.

Eventually, the twelve of them sat down to a big dinner of pot roast, mashed sweet and regular potatoes, corn, greens, rolls, and gravy. Towards the end of the night, Gabe and Kali went to her house and Charlie and Dorothy went home. Mary stayed at Dean’s house with Sam and Jess while Chuck and Naomi stayed in Cas’s guest room. 

After a long, eventful, and busy day, Annie fell asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow. Back in Dean and Cas’s bedroom, Dean was busy digging through his school bag and desk. 

When Cas walked into the room and closed the door, Dean didn’t turn to face him but asked, “Have you seen my grade book?”

Cas nervously said, “Baby…?” 

But was ignored by Dean who kept talking about the book, “I could have sworn I left it in my bag.” 

Again, Cas tried to get his attention, “Dean?” 

And again, he was ignored, “These parents are going to kill me if I don’t get these grades online and—”

Cas quickly cut off his boyfriend’s rambling, “Dean!”

When Dean dropped what he was doing and turned around to look at Cas, he was completely shocked. 

Cas was down on one knee, holding a small black box which was open to show a small silver band with a small diamond on it. Cas couldn’t help but smile at Dean’s completely shell-shocked face, all wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Cas started to say what he was thinking about all day, “I love you so much. You’ve been there for me on my best days and my worst. You support me through my hectic career. You love my daughter and she loves you. You’re her dad, my best friend, and my true love. Would you please be my husband as well?”

Dean took about two steps before tackling Cas to the ground with a huge hug and endless kisses. Through his tears, he answered, “Yes, yes! I love you so much.”

Cas was quick to slip the elegant ring onto Dean’s left ring finger before pulling him into a kiss only to break it a minute later, “I found your grade book, it’s under the bed.”

Mumbling against Cas’s lips, Dean smirked, “Forget the stupid book, my hot fiancé is holding me and I’m not moving.”

Happily agreeing with him, Cas hummed, “Mmm, I am so okay with that. I love you, baby.”

Dean let himself be held and loved as he tried to show Cas the same amount of love he was being given, “I love you more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was very short but this story needed its happy ending. Thank you for reading! Much love xx


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